Wishlist Wednesday

Wishlist Wednesday is my list of released or unreleased books that I want on my bookshelf.  Here’s my lastest list of wants.

ARC Review: Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa

Series:  Iron Fey, Book #3

Genre:   YA, Paranormal, Fantasy

Release Date:  January 25, 2011

Publisher:  Harlequin Teen

Author Website:  http://www.juliekagawa.com/

Format I Read:  ARC eBook

Pages:  362 (Nook pgs)

Source:  Net Galley

Reading Challenge:  Kick Ass Heroine Reading Challenge

Read an excerpt

Book Blurb

My name is Meghan Chase.

I thought it was over. That my time with the fey, the impossible choices I had to make, the sacrifices of those I loved, was behind me. But a storm is approaching, an army of Iron fey that will drag me back, kicking and screaming. Drag me away from the banished prince who's sworn to stand by my side. Drag me into the core of conflict so powerful, I'm not sure anyone can survive it.

This time, there will be no turning back.

Awesomeness:

“You alright?” he asked, steadying me as the last of the nausea faded.

Anger flared.  No, I wasn’t all right.  I was a freaking faery who couldn’t use glamour!  Not without fainting, throwing up, or getting so dizzy I was practically useless.  I was allergic to myself!  How pathetic was that?

My Thoughts

I was recently turned on to this awesome series by some fellow book bloggers.  I read the first two books and novella back to back and anxiously awaited to get my hands on this latest book.  I have to say that I was not disappointed because I easily finished it in one day.  All 362 pages!  The book is full of action, unlikely alliances, and some heartbreaking scenes that disrupted the HEA that I was so sure would happen.

Iron Queen continues with the Iron Fey wrecking havoc in Nevernever making the dysfunctional Summer and Winter courts hell bent on sacrificing Meghan to save their own necks.  Meghan isn’t the same girl, which is a good thing because she finally tells King Oberon and Queen Mab where to stick it.  She is still learning, but I felt like she made better choices and handled things a little bit better this time.  She realizes her destiny and accepts her place.

Puck continues to annoy the hell out of me.  To be honest, the Three Musketeer act could easily be a twosome and I would love it.  I know that Puck is put in the story as sort of a comic relief to lighten the dark mode that this book takes on, but I found myself skipping over his parts and not caring what I missed.  Yes, I am a Puck hater.

Ash is the man.  From the time he was introduced to the story, I knew he would end up with Meghan.  He was a prick at first, but his love and devotion to Meghan is what draws me to the series.  Now this is a love story, rated PG, but still a great love story.  It’s tragic that destiny keeps pulling them apart, but in the end I know the HEA will be worth the frustration of having to wait.

Overall, the story was easy to follow, the characters were good, and the plot was even better than the last.  If you are a fae fan and haven’t gotten around to reading this series, you are missing out on some good reading.

Rating

5 flowers of love.  An awesome new favorite for the bookshelf

Other Books In This Series:

The Iron King, Book #1

Winter’s Passage, Novella

The Iron Daughter, Book #2

The Iron Knight, Book #4 Coming Soon

Other Reviews Of This Book:

Goodreads

Shelfari

Series Review: The Iron Fey by Julie Kagawa

Author:  Julie Kagawa
Genre:  Fantasy, YA
How I Got It:  ARC ebooks from Net Galley

Book Summaries:

Title:  The Iron King
Series: Iron Fey Series, Book #1
Released:  February 1, 2010

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny—one she could never have imagined…

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school…or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth—that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face…and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

Read an excerpt 

Title:  Winter's Passage
Series:  Iron Fey Series, Novella
Released:  June 1, 2010

Meghan Chase used to be an ordinary girl...until she discovered that she is really a faery princess. After escaping from the clutches of the deadly Iron fey, Meghan must follow through on her promise to return to the equally dangerous Winter Court with her forbidden love, Prince Ash. But first, Meghan has one request: that they visit Puck--Meghan's best friend and servant of her father, King Oberon--who was gravely injured defending Meghan from the Iron Fey.

Yet Meghan and Ash's detour does not go unnoticed. They have caught the attention of an ancient, powerful hunter--a foe that even Ash may not be able to defeat....

Title:  The Iron Daughter
Series:  The Iron Fey, Book #2
Released:  August 1, 2010

Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron fey—ironbound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her.

Worse, Meghan's own fey powers have been cut off. She's stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can't help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.

Read an excerpt 

My Thoughts

Oh great, another series for me to obsess over.  I don't read a lot of YA because the characters are usually young and they haven't developed into the kick ass heroes and heroines that I like to read about so they don't hold my attention very well.   But every now and then I run across one that has just enough action and romance to make it worth my while.   

In the Iron Fey Series, Julie Kagawa has taken well known characters and given them new life.  Her vivid imagination had me reading all three books back to back.  The books are written so wonderfully that you cannot stop reading until the last page has been turned.  Then you whine for more.

I didn't want to review each books separately, so I just decided to do one big review.  To tell the truth, I can't tell where one book stopped and the other began.  In my mind, all three books ran together as one big story.

At times I felt like I was reading a cross between A Midnight Summer's Dream and Alice In Wonderland  with a little bit of The Matrix sprinkled in.  The series was a fun read.  It had crazy characters, romance, and plenty of action.

I liked Meghan.  She was a little bratty at times, but she developed into a pretty good character.  Once she found out who she was, she did what was necessary to protect herself and those that she cared about.

Puck I could have done without.  He annoyed me from start to finish.  True he helped Meghan as much as he could but I still felt that if he hadn't been such a prankster about everything, her journey would not have been so complicated.

As soon as Ash stepped on the scene, it was all over.  Bad boy or not, I was rooting for him to get the girl, no matter what evil he'd done or did to get her.  He may have been the enemy and whatnot, but it's just something about bad boys that make me swoon.  His character did a complete turnaround which made me love him even more.

Grimalkin and Iron Horse were my favorite characters.  Grimalkin was super selfish and charged for every favor he did, but always came through in the end.  I'm still wondering what he had to gain from all the help he gave because he sure didn't do it out of the goodness of his heart.
Iron Horse was a complete surprise.  He was the enemy, then the friend.  I didn't know whether to trust or root for him to go to that big scrap yard in the sky.

My Rating

I give the series five flowers of love.  I enjoyed the books and would recommend them.  I am anxiously awaiting the next installment, Iron Queen, which is due out in February 2011 (sad face).